In 1986, one year away from graduation at a French business school, Gilles Amsallem came to New York for a short summer vacation. He fell in love with the city at first and then America altogether. Gilles quit everything he was doing in France and logically settled in New York.
A self-made-man, Amsallem launched in 1987 Pesah Design, his fashion company which specialized in textile designs. Five years later, he launched a second company, Selavi, to import from France and Italy the most luxurious textile for American designers such as Carolina Herrera, Ralph Lauren, Zac Posen and Tuleh to name a few.
In 2001, while his company was steadily growing, he offered Pierre Battu to join Selavi as a partner. Now the parent company of French Tuesdays, Selavi has kept its textile activity, and Gilles keeps managing five historic clients directly but devotes most of his time to developing French Tuesdays: first in Miami in 2004, then in Los Angeles in 2006, and in San Francisco in 2007.
In 2006, Gilles moved to Los Angeles where he still lives.
Pierre holds a Master of Arts in International Politics from Brussels University (ULB) and an MBA from Paris Business School (ESCP-EAP).
After working for Aventis for a few years in the early 1990s, he left in 1993 and joined Arjo-Wiggins, a European paper manufacturing company, where he became an export manager in charge of the South American markets. His initial move to the United States occurred in 1998, when he was appointed Vice President in charge of sales and marketing for a division of Arjo-Wiggins USA, located in New York City.
In 2000, after two very exciting and fulfilling years in Manhattan, Pierre was promoted to a position which required a return back to the Arjo-Wiggins%u2019 Headquarters in Paris. After 12 months of being back home and missing NYC and everything it offered, he decided to resign to pursue his dream of starting his own business in New York. This is when he started a company to import textile from France with his business partner Gilles.
In March 2003, Pierre regrouped a few friends at the Ava Lounge to revive his passion for organizing social events. If only 50 people attended to that first gathering, the numbers of participants grew amazingly fast to reach 500 by July of the same year. This is when Pierre decided to dedicate most of his time to the French Tuesdays' adventure with the support of his business
Originally from Haiti Ricardo spent 10 years living in Bordeaux (South West of France) for his studies. In 2005 He obtained a diploma in international trade. While living in Bordeaux he had the opportunity to work at Vinexpo (wine international trade show) and also for the professional soccer team. In 2007 he moved to NYC and joined French Tuesdays team. Presently Ricardo is working as a coordinator and as a PR person for the Miami Branch. Ricardo is an epicurean. He also has a great passion for fashion, soccer and international culture. He speaks fluently French, English, Spanish and Creole.
